I'm referencing the excellent book and TV series The Expanse. It's semi-hard sci-fi, set in the nearish future of our solar system, where there's a growing conflict over the resources of the asteroid belt and outer planets... Earth and Mars are in a murky cold war with each other, and a third faction- the microgravity-native Belters- are beginning to forge their own new society, in the outer reaches of the system.

The reference is a bit spoiler-y for book and season 2... >!When one of the Martian moons gets blown up, a main crew character "fixes" the Martian flag by turning its depiction of Phobos into a bunch of dots. Predictably, this pisses off the Martians.!<

Amos is gonna have to update their flag again.

Kinda, yes. That's why I wanted to counter with a little positivity.

>The condors there were flightless due to injuries or deformations, but they and some other captive condors at other locations were able to produce offspring- that were then released into the wild, helping to bolster their near-extinct population.

Many if not most zoo animals are not capable of returning to the wild. Either they were born in captivity, or they have an injury or disease that would mean they would not survive their natural environment. It can be sad to see an animal in captivity, but releasing an unfit animal into the wild is probably more cruel than allowing them to survive in captivity.

That said, not all zoos provide adequate environment, diet, healthcare, and enrichment for their animals, so it's important to do your research and learn what animals need to thrive, so you can make an educated judgement.

On the other hand, zoos are an excellent tool for keeping critically endangered species alive and reintroducing them to the environment! I recently visited the Santa Barbara zoo, where they had a large California Condor exhibit. The condors there were flightless due to injuries or deformations, but they and some other captive condors at other locations were able to produce offspring- that were then released into the wild, helping to bolster their near-extinct population.